Ash Canyon Ridge Loop hike with Zana, DougB, JimA and Tatiana

This hike was led by DougB from the Huachuca Hiking Club. The write-up reminded me of a hike I did solo with Sadie back in 2015 and I wanted to do it again. It was described as steep, bushwhacky and not an "easy Tuesday Hike." 

I had Hansel and Zana inside before leaving for the trailhead at 7:10am. I only wanted to bring one dog, not two, so I had to distract Hansel with a raw chicken leg.. Zana darted outside while Hansel was busy eating  the chicken leg.  He was so busy eating it, he never noticed that Zana and I had left quickly. I have to use raw chicken to distract the dogs every time I leave the house with one dog.

We had a high wind advisory again today, but the wind wasn't as bad as yesterday's gusts. It was breezy, yes, with a slight chill, but nothing that was a mission stopper. The breeze was 11mph at the start of the hike at 7:40am and 44F.

I was running a few minutes late again. Doug's hike description was right on, so it was easy to see where the hike would be. The hill where we started the hike was visible from Ash Canyon road, a near-perfect cone driving up from the east.. I parked in a turn-off but didn't see any other vehicles. 

I was ready to  walk down the road a bit to look for the others when Doug, Jim and Tatiana came walking down the road  They had parked higher up on Ash Canyon Road and walked down another 0.3 miles where I was parked. We all walked together from here. 

The start of the steep climb was another half mile down the road before we started up the steep ridge and bushwhacked,  This was 1.73 miles to the high point of this hike. The higher we got, the easier the social trail  was visible, but the high and thick Lovegrass and Feathergrass made the trail hard to find.  Doug had done this hike before and knew what to look for. 

We came across some migrant trash but nothing that looked fresh. 

 I kept a steady pace. I was worried I would get out of breath like I did last weekend, but today everything was easier. Everyone was going uphill very slowly due to the many rocks and boulders. The former boulders acted as steps as we gained elevation, traveling across high desert terrain of manzanitas, prickly pear, yuccas, agave and autumn sunflowers.

 

 

The grade varied greatly, from 9% to 46% in short sections. Sunflowers dotted the hills here. The highest point was 7367' as we sat on some warm mine tailings with an abandoned mine behind us, ate our lunch, and took in the views.  We could see far south into Mexico.  We could see the trails around us like the Bob Thompson switchback and the Lutz trail to the Crest Trail.

I could see the mining camp that Sadie and I discovered on our hike, and faint section of the now-abandoned South Fork of Ash Creek trail. The ascent took us 2:30 hours. We now had to descend.

The second section of this hike was the descent to the South Fort creek. We moved slowly through manzanitas and sandy, loose terrain.. I found the old trail and somehow got ahead of the others but waited for them at the second mine. Here we found an abandoned ore cart. 

Once we got to the creek, the hiking went easier and faster. Terrain was now desert riparian with tall pines to shade us. There was water in the creek for Zana to cool off in. Our pace increased and even Zana was revitalized. 

We walked right into the mining camp from years before. I recognized the stone wall, some crushed up metal, and later on the slide waterfall. I was now in familiar territory and it was all downhill from here. 

 

The South Fork trail has become more overgrown since my last hike here, but Doug was able to guide us through the more difficult-to-follow sections. We were soon within view of Ash canyon road, but that last half mile was on a badly-rutted  mining trail. Watching our steps was crucial to avoid slipping.

JimA had parked his truck at the trailhead. Here is where I said good-bye to the group, thanked Doug for a fine hike, and walked the 0.3 miles with Zana to my Honda. I was back on the rutted road before Jim. We all went home from here. 

Zana went straight to the water bucket when I got home, Hansel sniffed her down, and the other four dogs who were in the backyard did the same to Zana when I let them back inside. 

Doug had spoken so much about Tatiana over the years and we finally got to meet. She is a strong hiker, loves dogs, and hails from Ukraine. She is a retired USArmy intelligence officer with Russian/Ukrainian language. We didn't speak about the current war in Ukraine with Russia, but I'd love to know about her life another time. She had been in Ukraine visiting family earlier this year. Zana and Tatiana hit it off right away.

A windy autumn day

A high wind advisory was in effect at 8am through Saturday morning. I was busy inside and didn't walk the dogs to the river. 

 I did take Gretel solo to the Brown Canyon Ranch House and walked the Duck pond loop for 2.25 miles.

 The parking lot was empty. We had the entire area to ourselves. Gretel does great when she's solo with me, walking up front but never going out of eye sight. She will stop and look back at me to make sure I'm safe and awaits further instruction.

 The trail had been recently maintained for both hikers and cyclists. And the pond had also been trimmed of its reeds that can quickly take over. There was water in the pond. Recent rains elsewhere had also brought water to the smaller drainages in the area. 

 The jackpot for me were the wild senna shrubs along the maintenance road. I had noticed them last year but the seed pods were already open and empty. This time I picked as many as I could fit inside the paper envelope I had brought with me just for seed collection. I will grow these seeds inside and hopefully a few plants will germinate and eventually grow in my yard with soild amendment. There were also many Mexican sunflowers along the road. Goldfinches love to pick the seeds from these flowers. The wind wasn't as strong as predicted, but it did bring with it a chill. A flannel shirt took care of the chill. I stopped by my old lot and picked up a few pal fronds, checked the main, and then drove off to Bisbee. By now it was 4pm and I was hungry. I had a quick dinner at the Guadalajara diner by Safeway, stopped at the new Arctic Circle for a cheeseburger for tomorrow, and then drove home. Gretel was my shotgun rider the whole time and took her job seriously. I stopped by the San Pedro River at 5:20pm. The sun was setting and the dust was visible in the air. We walked a road south toward the former Bouchay house, but had to turn around at the 0.3 mile mark due to flooding and a downed cottonwood. That tree was felled in a previous windstorm as the leaves were dead. The road was also badly rutted from heavy vehicle traffic. So Gretel got a good three miles today. I feed her separately before letting the other dogs back inside for the night.

A cooling trend is coming

October provides some of the best weather for outdoor activities here in SE Arizona. I had planned on taking three dogs down to the river to explore any visible changes to the flora and water level. I took Gretel, Hansel and Wolfie, who were all due a good run. We didn't even start until 11am. It was sunny and 73F.

 The dogs clearly enjoyed their romp. These three dogs together stay together, so I have no worries of them taking off somewhere. They ran ahead of me and I stopped and took a lot of photos. 

 The trees along the river are still very green, but a few cottonwoods have a few yellowing canopies at closer examination, but not distinctive enough yet to stand out. The trail to the

river was very passable. It wasn't as muddy as I thought it would be since last week's rain.

 Creosote have gone to seed, the desert marigolds are still in bloom, and the Christmas cholla I've discovered is all along the route. The red blooms are what make it stand out. It grows in relation to other evergreens and without its red blooms is hard to distinguish. 

 The water level was normal. It was muddy and flowing. The grasses along the river were still quite green.

 I was back home by 1pm. I had a 4:30pm appointment at the Carnett Clinic as a follow-up to the Losartan medication I'm now on. I used these three hours as chill time.

 I told the nurse that the medication has made me feel more fatigued and that I have trouble breathing while hiking elevation. She now wants me to get a bloodtest for iron deficiency. I hope that is all I have. I've had iron deficiencies in the past so this isn't shocking. The clinic was empty. I was the only patient in the building. 

 Once I left, I walked around the area looking at seeds to collect. There were some beautiful specimens of Yellow Bird of Paradise that I collected. The neighborhood wasn't the nicest, but there were plenty of seeds to collect in the alleys. Lots here are small and older.

 I stopped at Food City for a quick Taco Tuesday special at the Delicatessen. I took Steve there last week and he enjoyed the meal. Each street taco is a mere $1.25 and three fill me up. 

 While at the delicatessen, a young woman in line next to me, with two small girls came up to me and asked me if I used to teach at Lowell Middle School in Bisbee (back in the fall of 2008) and I said yes. I didn't recognize her at first, but she did recognize me, so we had a quick conversation about our lives since then.

 Her name is Sara. Sara is now 30 years old with two daughters, aged 10 and 5. She never graduated from Bisbee High School in 2012 but she is finishing GED courses and wants to pursue phlebotomy. Since I was just at a clinic (and got my flu shot) I chimed right in: any kind of medical degree or training will keep you employable. We reminisced. I asked about several students I had that semester, both good and bad. She remembered David B, who is now a locally-known heroin dealer and serving his second stint in prison. His father and grandfather are both ex-felons. She also remembered Cisco, a troubled boy living with his Grandma with no direction. And she is also in contact with AlexP, who is now in New York City as a struggling actor and working side gigs as a secret customer. I didn't want to interrupt her time with her children, so I bid fairwell, told her girls to listen to their mom, and departed the store feeling overwhelmed that a young person could still remember me from sight 18 years later. "Youre' looking good!" said Sara. I wish I could agree with her.

Carr Peak, the aspens and the wildflowers

I had this hike scheduled via Heylo ( the Sierra Vista hikers no longer use MeetUp because of the rising cost) Monday night because weather promised to be cloudy with rain in the afternoon.  Another hiker in Tucson posted photos of his hike up Carr Peak last Sunday so I had to act fast.  Our aspens' leaves don't stay yellow for long because of the Brown Spot Virus that kills the leaves fast.

At 4am I was awakened by thunder and lightning and heavy rain.  This is from TS Rachel.  She wasn't due in our area until the afternoon, but obviously she changed her mind.  By the time I left the house (after another 30-minute breakout with Gretchen) the rain had stopped and the clouds were beginning to dissipate.

We started out as a group of four men and me with Hansel. Oscar is the only one I knew from the April hike up Carr with Helen. Juan is a friend of Oscar.  Michael dropped out after only a half mile because his water bladder had leaked and he had no water on him. Owen is not a heylo member but the son of a friend of a member who did not hike so I picked him up from Jo2Go. Owen also asked me not to post his photo on social media.

We met at 7am, rode up Carr Canyon Road in three vehicles, and began at 7:35am.  The road up Carr Canyon is horribly rutted now.  I had to be careful not to damage my undercarriage.

Owen hails from Colorado and loves hiking the high ridges of the state.  As soon as we started on the trail, he took off.  We didn't see him again until we were 2.5 miles up the trail.  He ended up going back up with us and hiked a total of eight miles.

I had advertised this hike as a wildflower hike and there were many asters all along the hike.  The 1/3-mile section going up Carr was covered in goldeneyes. The original seeds were dropped by the Forest Service after our 2011 fires, mixed with straw mulch. They have now taking over from the red autumn sage.  

Our heavy and frequent rains have caused many of the post-fire pines to finally grow.  Some of the 4-footers are now over six feet tall in this past year.  We also walked through thicker and taller grasses all along the way.  The upper regions really needed all this moisture to thrive.

We encountered one fallen snag early on, felled from our high winds last month.  This was up the Sawmill Springs trail.

We also ended up walking through the yellow aspen grove.  The aspens popped yellow earlier this week and the yellow was visible when I drove home from the high school Friday afternoon.  I love the smell of yellow aspen leaves.  The Columbine flowers, however, were absent.

We could see rain falling over the Mule mountains as we ascended but those clouds stayed to our East.  I never took my red EMS raincoat off, though, as it also acts as a windguard.

There was water trickling from the Springs and higher up from the waterfall springs.  Hansel had his water breaks and that put a stress off  me.  He was never overheated and seemed to really like the hike and would whine when we were stopped for two long.

I enjoyed the company but I had trouble keeping my breathing regulated and had to stop often.  This slowed us all down.  I ended up taking 2:20 hours to make it to the top!  I wonder if my shortness of breath is because of the BP medication?

We didn't meet anyone until our descent.  We met NicoleM as she was going up.  This is the second time we have met on the trail.   Another couple with two dogs was also near the peak as we left.  Hansel was well-behaved the entire time and didn't even go off the trail.

We stayed on the peak for 20 minutes.  Hansel had his can of food, I had my water.

I had no trouble going down. We were back at our cars by noon and all four of us ate at The Bit where Owen and Juan continued to talk about technical climbs in Colorado.  They had met as strangers this morning and departed as friends.  

This was my second time at the Bit and had another great meal.  Hansel stayed in the Honda in the shade because even the patio was crowded.  It was 63F so he was fine.

I wanted to walk Gretchen for two miles but turned around at the half-mile mark because a second round of rain was coming off the mountains.

I fell asleep early and missed the second big rain storm within 24 hours.

TS Polo

Polo was a Cat 5 Hurricane as he churned up the Pacific coast of Baja California over the past weekend.  It was a Cat 3 when it made landfall Monday morning.  Residual rains were due our way Monday night with stronger rains and floodings for today.

While it did rain here Monday night, it was more of a mist.  The low-lying clouds all day yesterday were more intriguing and reminded me that autumn is here.   I did most of my daily steps at the high school in case it was a rainout later. (My goal is at least 6000 steps a day but I usually do 10,000+.) I did not walk any dogs yesterday.

Today's weather was more dramatic.  I woke up to mountains hidden entirely by low-lying clouds.  Sunrise was completely bypassed.  Rain and thunderstorms were forecasted for  late in the morning and arrived on time, flooding parts of the school campus.  The classroom had a window and I'd watch the sky whenever I could.  It rained for a good two hours, then stopped, with a second deluge due by 4pm.

It was the kind of weather I'd rather have witnessed from home with my dogs.  I had taken this five-day sub position two weeks ago for an AP American History class and didn't nor couldn't cancel out now. History is one of my favorite subjects and AP students tend to be well-behaved and focused.

I had also made plans with Steve to try out Taco Tuesday at The Sierra Grill and steakhouse and then see the new movie "Heart of the Beast" starring Brad Pitt and German Shepherd Dog UberIII as Odin. Tuesdays all tickets all day are a mere $5.50 at our local Cinemark. This was a belated birthday treat for him since he was in Washington state with his daughter Margot for his birthday in August. This was my first theatre movie in well over ten years.  The hyped human-dog relationship is what sold me. The natural landscape of New Zealand, where the movie was filmed, was another reason.

Both dinner and movie turned out well-timed.  I left the high school at 2:30pm as a light rain began. I arrived at Steve's place at 2:47pm to shrouded Whetstone peaks. Five minutes later we were on our way to the restaurant.  That's when the rain got heavy. We got to the Grill at 3:25pm to a near-empty dining area.  We each had one beer and three tacos each.  I had a side of beans, Steve had both rice and beans.  The bill was $33 plus tip.  We left the restaurant at 4:30pm to a cleared-up sky, and got to the mall at 4:57pm.  The movie began at 5:20pm. We never had to wait around for anything all afternoon. The weather was never threatening to me as a driver.  That had been my main concern because people in this town as a group are reckless drivers.  We have bad vehicle accidents in town almost daily.

The movie was good but not award-winning. Both actors suffer from PTSD from their time together in Afghanistan. Pitt plays a retired Special Forces Sergeant Major and Uber is his canine partner.  They were the only survivors when their platoon was ambushed.  Scenes are played with flashbacks.  The story focuses on the human-dog bond.  The chemistry between the two is very believable. Odin's facial features reminded me of Sara, who died in 2013.  But the story also has its flaws, which brings my rating of the movie to 7/10. 

The two major flaws I had with the movie were the unnecessary CGI animals.  The bear and wolf scenes could have been eliminated and the story line focused on the challenges of the terrain and weather alone to create psychological tension and character development. Pitt has a medical condition during the flight scene, which causes the plane to crash.  His subsequent physical exertion seems unreal. His medical condition early on gives away the ending so the ending is predictable but yet still bittersweet.

Posters on Reddit were especially critical of the movie and the worst ones were former Special Forces soldiers.  I will say no more to avoid spoiling the plot, but I agreed with most of them.  I am a realist and the more real scenes are, the more of an impact the movie has on me.

We were out of the theatre just before 7pm and stopped at Punchy's for a second round of beer.  Here is where we talked about the movie, as we sipped our pints on the lighted patio.  I was still very full from the tacos earlier. The rain had cooled off the air.  Our flannel shirts kept us comfy.

"I am 79 and Trace is 13; either one of us can go at anytime" said Steve.  I silently agreed,  None of us is guaranteed another day.  Even I am concerned about my heart health.

I dropped Steve off at 8pm, just as the waning full moon rose above the Dragoons. I told him we should have more movie dates like tonight.  I was home by 9pm to six very happy dogs.  By 10:30pm I was on a walk with Gretel around the 'hood.  She is my own Odin. We both walked past the rain damage together; the rain was heavy in my area. By 11:30pm I was getting tired for the night.

There was still distant lightning to the northwest as I went to bed shortly after midnight. The moon highlighted the rain clouds still hovering over the mountains.

Full moon hikes

 The official full moon was yesterday.  I took Zana with me for a short hike up Bisbee's shrines, a short hike under three miles. I miscalculated the time of the moon rise and descended ten minutes before the moon finally rose. We stayed in town for dinner and walked a little in Old Bisbee for added mileage.

Today I made sure I had the correct time (6:38pm) and took Zana and Gretel.  This time we did Juniper Flats by the second radio towers.  This was a shorter hike of 1.5 miles.  

The road to the towers is badly rutted in the last 0.4 miles.  I parked the Honda in a turnoff and walked the rest.  There was heavy cloud cover and was hoping the clouds would create some color at the 6:09pm sunset.  They did, but it wasn't a full sky burst of warm hues of yellow, orange and reds.

Normally Juniper Hill is a great spot to view both sunset and moonrise, but I didn't want to risk meeting a snake.  The grass was too overgrown to watch one's footing.  Grass covers the rocky slope.  I just stayed on the faded jeep trail.  

The dogs got a little impatient with waiting around for the moon to rise.  Again, cloud cover quickly made the rising moon slink back behind clouds.  It took another 20 minutes for the moon to make its full appearance and we were back in the car by then.

It was very dark up on the hill. It didn't bother the dogs but it made me a little nervous.  A group of campers pulled in a few 100 feet from me to set up camp.  The dogs ran over to the guys and they thought there were getting attacked by coyotes!  The man I spoke to, Daniel, said that this is the first time the camping group has ever encountered other people.  I can say the same. 

Tomorrow night we are expecting overnight rains from Tropical storm Polo.  I hope it's a good rain!

Sunnyside Canyon Trail with Ellen, Brenda, and Gretel

Distance: 11 miles

Elevation gain: 2700 feet, from 5977' to 8476'

Significance: Solitude, seasonal water, views at top, personal challenge.

The Sunnyside Canyon trail is part of the Arizona Trail.  I had done this section about 20 years ago with the Huachuca Hiking club.  It kicked my butt then and it kicked my butt again today

The hike plan actually started a few days ago with a message from Ellen asking me if I were interested in hiking the trail with Brenda this morning.  She didn't state how far we'd go except "toward the crest...and to explore another flowing creek." but I said sure.  The only request is that I drive myself to avoid her SUV getting muddied by my dogs, as water is in the creek right now.  I complied, as I don't ever want anyone's vehicle muddied by my dogs.  That is why I drive myself most of the time, as everything I need for the dogs is in my Honda.  We met in town shortly after 8am and carpooled.

Hansel and Zana are my water-loving dogs but I ended up taking Gretel.  She just happened to be inside the house with Wolfie when the other four dogs darted outside to bark at dust.  I had to distract Wolfie with some raw chicken legs as I prepped Gretel for the 1.5-hour car ride.  We drove through Fort Huachuca and the western slopes of the Huachucas.  I don't come out here enough, but the mountains have a different look from the West. There are less people on this side of the mountains. Cell phone coverage is minimal.  We drove past Parker Canyon Lake and in another five miles hit  Forest Road 228 that took us to our trailhead parking.  We had one deep rut to overcome but my Honda managed.

Our hike started at 9:24am.  Temperature was 69F with partly-cloudy skies.  This was ideal hiking weather!  Gretel was off-leash and stayed close, although twice she ran up slopes chasing something.  A squirrel or bird, perhaps, as we didn't see any deer.  She had plenty of water in the flowing creek the first two miles.  We never came across anyone else during the entire hike.

Sunnyside canyon trail is an old mining trail.  There are still a few faint sites that once housed miners, but all that remains today is some rusty metal machinery.  The higher in elevation the trail goes, the narrower the trail becomes.  Today the trail was overgrown with wildflowers and grasses.

We kept a steady pace.  I was feeling good.  Gretel stayed near the water. I didn't begin to feel elevation until we got up Piano Hill at the 2.5-mile mark and the steepness increased. Steep switchbacks began and I needed a few short stops to get my breathing back to normal. Some sections had a 20% grade. We hit a trail leading to the Copper Glance Mine (Ellen and I did this several years ago) and we still had two miles to the Crest Trail.  At that point I knew I had to make it.

We felt the cooler mountain air once we hit 8000' elevation. We could see Parker Lake and its low water level. This part of the mountains was not affected by the 2011 fire.  The pinon pines and oaks were now Douglas firs and Ponderosa pines.  We had shade and spotted sunshine as we rested with a view east.  We hit the summit at 5.25 miles.  This tired Gretel and she rested while we chatted. It was just us, the birds, and the view.

Few people seem to come to this part of the mountain range.  Trail head signs were broken and on the ground.  Trail was overgrown and hard to follow.  I wouldn't want to have an injury up here.

The return hike was much better.  I was tired and on auto pilot.  Gretel was tired, too, and stayed by my side.  I was ahead of the two gals and stopped a few times for them to catch up to us.  They had mentioned that they wanted to hike back via the creek but i was more focused on getting back to the car before sunset. I also wanted to be on hard pavement before sunset as well.

My cell phone was near dead but I made it back to the Honda at 4:50pm with 5% battery power.  Ellen and Brenda came in at 5:10pm and we drove back the way we came.  We had hiked over 11 miles.  This was my longest hike in several years.

The west gate of Fort Huachuca is remotely manned.  One has to call the MP number posted and show your ID to the camera before the gate is lifted for vehicles.  I did all that, but the officer had trouble with my last name.  It was frustrating as the connection was spotty.  She finally let me in when I gave her my ID number.  Why didn't she just ask for that in the first place!?

Ellen and Brenda went their separate ways.  I got back home at 6:55pm (!) and both ankles were sore.  I even had some neuropathy in my left foot that went away in ten minutes.

Gretel was quiet the rest of the night.  She didn't even bother barking at backyard intruders for once.